Calaveras County man buys fire truck to protect home from wildfires

CALAVERAS COUNTY, Calif. -- A man who lives in rural Calaveras County is so concerned about wildfires, he's going to extremes to make sure his home is protected. Our sister station ABC10 reports that he's decided to buy a fire truck to fight them himself if one breaks out.

JC Allman knows that wildfires are far too common in this area.

"It scares you to death when you see a fire," he said. "Everything I got is here and I can lose it in ten minutes."

And while his property is insured, Allman is afraid of losing irreplaceable items like pictures of his grandkids and, most importantly, pictures of his wife.

"My wife died about eight years ago from cancer and stuff that she had that belonged to her, it meant a lot to her, and I wouldn't want to lose that," he said.

And that's why he's not taking any chances. Four years ago he bought his very own 1965 fire truck, and he's not afraid to use it.

"I put out a fire for a neighbor over here once," he said. "I had it pretty well out before the fire department even got there."

The tank holds up to 1,000 gallons of water and it only takes ten minutes to fill up the whole thing.

"What I use is a friend of mine has two wells, it puts out 100 gallons a minute," said Allman. "And I keep it full and have it sitting here ready to go. But I put a 3,000 gallon tank in down below so I can keep it for backup."

But he says don't call him a hero.

"No, no," he protested. "I'm just a good neighbor who wants to help. Up here, everybody works together and helps each other."

Click here for the full story by ABC 10.